Manuel Rosales

Manuel J. Rosales, Jr., (born 1947 in New York City) is an American organ builder whose instruments display a strong synthesis of romantic and contemporary styles. His workshop has built over 30 pipe organs with his notable output including collaborations on the instruments at Walt Disney Concert Hall and Rice University.

Career Notable instruments

Rosales achieved notoriety in 1987 with the bold tonal design of his new instrument for Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Portland, Oregon. Built at a cost of $1 million, a substantial figure for an organ at that time, it is considered to be “one of the great organs in the United States”. Two years later, Rosales completed an organ conceived in the early Spanish style for Mission San José, joining a movement of American organ builders who, during the 1980s and 1990s, designed instruments in specific historic styles that embrace the literature of their period.

Notable collaborations In 1995, Rosales collaborated with the organ building firm of C. B. Fisk in the design and voicing of a 75-stop organ for the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University. Designed along French classical and romantic lines, its full ensemble is intended to evoke the powerful and fiery tone found in the works of Aristide Cavaillé-Coll.

Indiana University and bankruptcy In 1992, Indiana University contracted with Rosales to build an organ for the then-unbuilt Ione B. Auer Hall at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. Then-chairman of the organ department at Indiana University, Larry Smith, chose Rosales to build the instrument because he was "uniquely talented" and, at the time, he was considered to be the "premier craftsman of organs" in the United States.

The organ was expected to be completed by 1997, however, Rosales "stray[ed] too far from the task", missed deadlines rendering the instrument an "overgrown jungle of trackers and howling ciphers"

In 2007, the university reached the final stages of negotiations with the organ builder C. B. Fisk to transform and rebuild the instrument originally built by Rosales.